New pygmy goat female has diarrhea(tmi)sorry

[tobin123]

We bought her from a breeder and that day she told us to start with corid and a wormer and Bounce back.This was in cse she got this,well she did so I started all of it and the only thing I can say is that she was running with diarrhea like crazy.She would eat grass and dring the bounce back so yesterday I didn't notice any difference except she is getting bloated.This morning she is still walking around and I got her to eat a few pellets from my hand and we gave her more bounce back and someone said to use PEPTO BISMOLso I know what your thinking but at this point she needed help so we gave it to her and still no sign of the severe diarrhea.What do you think I should do at this point???I don't have lots of $$$$ to keep pumping out but I am at the point I will do anything.Thanks for any advice.

 

[The Lisser]

Okay, if she has bloat, you can offer her baking soda - just dry, put it in a pan. It can help with bloat. Have you listened to her stomach? Is it making noises? You can just put your ear to her side, you don't need a stethoscope. If it's making noises that is good. I would take her off grain for right now, and do you have any hay? I would take her off grass and put her on hay if you can.

Diarrhea can be caused by any parasite, not just coccidia (which is what corid is for). It can be caused by stress, or a "bad" plant, or . . . If you could afford it, I would highly recommend taking a fecal sample to a vet - shouldn't cost you more than $15 to have them do a fecal float. Once you know what you're dealing with then you give the appropriate medication. I wouldn't just keep pouring medication into her without knowing what the problem is.

Ask the breeder what parasites she has to treat for at her farm. How old is the goat? Is it pregnant? Have you checked her eyelids? Do you know how to do that? If you pull down her lower eyelid, look on the inside of the lid to see if it's bright pink or pale. If it's pale she probably has barberpole worms, which can take a goat down very quickly. I don't know where you are, it is mostly a problem in the southeastern US, but it exists all over the country.

I wish you the best of luck with your goat. There is lots of good information about goat care on the internet. I really like this website to help with health care issues - I would still seek advice from a vet, but this website is a good place to start: http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/

 

[tobin123]

If I understand the breeder correctly she had mentioned that she has this problem but not this severe before.She said something that she has them in a small pasture with lots of goats and a cow.I have been offering hay to her.She nibbles at it and when she runs the bearn she picks up hay and straw to eat.THANKS

 

[Terri O]

If she is still eating you have a chance. Personally I would take her back to the breeder and have her deal with it. A goat shouldnt get that sick moving it to another farm unless you drastically changed the feed like if you gave it a bunch of horse feed that it wasnt used to or a load of corn...maybe way more grass? If she has them on a dry lot you you've got to go real easy introducing her to new stuff. An old goat farmer near me always kept some "pony" bottles of beer in the barn and when he had one with bloat would dump the bottle right down the goat's throat. Worked for him every time...
The baking soda is a good suggestion. Mine have it free choice if they get a tummy ache. Good advice from the other poster...I definitely would give a vet a call...problem is; not too many are very versed in goats! Good luck! Terri O

 

[blaundee]

I'd say take it back to the seller- there is NO reason to get stuck with someone else's problem, and there is something wrong with that one.

If you decide to keep her, however, take her to the vet ASAP, and ONLY to one who KNOWS goats. Just any vet won't do, and a cow vet will give you incorrect info. You do not need this spreading, whatever IT is, to your other animals.

You can give goats pepto bismol, but kaopectate works better and faster.

My vote is on taking her BACK. You don't need to expose your other animals.

 

[tobin123]

All the owner said was that she couldn't figure out WHY and whe had told me that they were eating a very grassy old hay bale but other than that just corn.We are concerned that her ear tag had been taking out BUT we have bought from her in the past and nothing like this so maybe she got rid of this one for a reason!!!I don't have any other goats so besides chickens that are in their own coop and the dog that runs loose she is by herself with the occasional cat.
I called a vet that specializes in farm animals L to Small so they will do a stool sample but I am wondering if I should take her with me??????????????????
NO I will not give her back to her,just for the simple fact that I paid for her and my son was going to use her for showing in 4H next year,if she makes it.
TAHNKS alot of so much help.

 

[tobin123]

Is it true that if she has coscidiosis(sp)it can harm all of our animals?????????????????????

 

[tobin123]

GOOD NEWS......I took her sample into the vet and she is full of worms so they gave me a wormer and told me to bring her back if she starts to worsen or come back in 6-8 weeks for another wormer.So we will see what happens,she is up and walking around and playing in the barn.KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED:

 

[silkieroo]

Wow I've never heard of someone who thought worms were GOOD news

... Glad shes okay!

Maddie

 

[The Lisser]

That is AWESOME that you acted so quickly!!!!

If this is a young animal, I think you have a good chance of the goat getting better. What kind of worms does the goat have? Stress can make a parasite load get worse, but it sounds like she had parasites by the plenty from the breeder farm. If it were me, I would not buy from that breeder again. All animals have parasites, but a good breeder will keep things under control and not sell an animal that is so compromised. Your other animals would probably not be affected by the goat coccidia - most animals have their own species of coccidia. However, there are other things that can spread among the species, like giardia (which people can get too) so if she has that, be sure to keep the poop cleaned until she's done with treatment.

If you plan to get more goats - or related animals like sheep, llamas, etc - I would keep that goat on a dry dirt or gravel lot and clean that poop thoroughly until her treatment has run it's course before you let her out on your pasture. Most parasites require two or more treatments - an initial treatment to kill the adult worms and then a follow-up treatment in 2 or 3 weeks (depends on the parasite) to kill any baby worms that hatched from eggs in the goat. Some of these parasites are almost impossible to get rid of and can end up costing you a lot of money for treatment so it is way better to quarantine and treat at first than let the goat poop parasites on your pasture and end up with parasites from here on.

Your goat will probably be lonely if you don't have other goats or small livestock like goats - a lonely goat is more likely to try to escape. If you don't care about breeding, you can get a goat wether (neutered male goat) for very cheap (like $25 around here if you get it and bottle raise it). Wethers make great pets and would keep your goat girl happy.

Also I would not feed a goat just corn like the breeder did. It can cause Vitamin E deficiency which can cause all sorts of other problems. Once the goat's diarrhea has stopped, I would recommend hay, grass, and goat pellets as needed, and also free-choice loose goat minerals. A healthy goat that is not still growing (under a year old), pregnant or lactating will not need grain most of the year as long as it has good quality hay or grass and goat minerals. If you don't give minerals you may end up with a poor hair coat, and other problems. A bag of minerals will last a pygmy goat a Looong time, so it is worth the money for sure.

Hope she bounces back soon! Congratulations on your new goat!!!